Choices Make You
by TatylTayle
Summary: Harry stood on the brink of an important decision to go beyond or back to the war. He mused this aloud and was startled when a disembodied voice replied.'There is a third option available to you Harry' - warnings/info on chap 1


Hello all and welcome to my first fic. It will eventually be Slash but I don't have an exact pairing in mind but I thought I'd warn you anywho :-)

This is mostly non canon and will contain a bit of Dumbledore/Ron bashing.

The idea is one used a lot, Harry gets the chance to travel back and do things differently. Though it is a widely used premise I hope you like my spin on the idea.

I hope you enjoy, if you have a suggestion for the pairings later on let me know... I try to let these things develop naturally throughout the story but input is always welcomed!

Well on with the first chapter, hope you enjoy

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><p><strong>Chapter One - A Chance<strong>

He had died…

Dumbledore had sent him to his death and now he stood in what appeared to be platform nine and three quarters but it was… well clean was an understatement it was luminescent.

He sat on one of the benches and 'hmmd' to himself, he knew he should be concerned, after all he was now dead and facing a fairly unusual situation, but he couldn't bring himself to feel anything but content.

"I hope Professor Snape found his way to a place like this…" he whispered to himself.

It felt as though a life age had passed in his silence and he was startled out of his sombre musings by a desperate cry, a babies cry.

He looked around swiftly for the source of the pitiful and wretched noise until he came across the deformed figure of Voldemort in his child form (as he had been before he had once again risen to power).

Though the man _'If you could call him that' _was his arch nemesis he still felt the need to comfort the form in front of him.

"You can't help him Harry." A clench of his chest in recognition of the voice… but whether it was in joy or anger he could not quite tell. He turned to face the late Albus Dumbledore.

Whatever emotions he was feeling must have been transmitted to his features for Professor Dumbledore looked saddened. He motioned for Harry to follow and so he did.

Harry asked the Headmaster all manner of questions and felt that the answers he received were genuine but this did not appease him… it only fuelled his anger. He was not only angry for his own fate… but for that of Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Moody, Cedric, Professor Snape, Fred, his parents all the people that had died during the war that he would never meet and even… just a little… for Voldemort's.

If the Wizarding World had been better equipped with social and psychological studies maybe Tom Riddle would never have assumed the feared alias, maybe he could have led a normal and fulfilling life and been happy.

Harry wondered if Voldemort had ever truly felt happiness in his life.

Dumbledore smiled and left Harry on the platform with the news that he could either go back, back to the death, the war the pain or he could go on to the next life. The twinkling in the old man's eyes suggested to Harry that he already knew what the young man would choose.

The train that was to take him beyond appeared in front of him.

He stood on the brink of an important decision… neither of the options were what he truly wanted. He mused this aloud and was startled when a disembodied voice replied.

'_There is a third option available to you Harry… but it will mean reliving everything… all the pain… all the torment… I cannot promise you everyone will be saved but you will have the chance many others would sell their soul for…' _The whispered voice echoed all around him and he felt a cold shiver run through his being. He could not tell what gender the owner of said voice was… it seemed to shift between both.

"Who are you?" He questioned carefully, he was in no rush after all he was dead.

'_I am everybody and I am nobody Harry… I am the magic in the Earth and Sky… I am what was before anything was… does this answer your question?' _Harry could sense an amusement from the being and knew that he would never get a straight answer to this question so he tried another.

"Why are you offering me this chance?"

'_Do not question why young Harry… the payment for this has already been explained, I require nothing further for if you choose to go back and start again, you will prove you courage along with your purity, yours has been an unhappy life.'_

He tried not to snort aloud at this and remained silent, hoping that the being would give him a little more.

'_I need an answer young one… I cannot linger here lest the others find out and that will mean trouble for the both of us…' _A sense of urgency washed over him, obviously transmitted by the being.

To relive everything the Dursley's and Voldemort put him through for a chance to save those he had lost… also the chance to live his life at Hogwarts on his own terms and not under the thumb of Dumbledore how could anybody refuse?

"I will."

Before he finished his confirmation a warm breeze enveloped him (it felt a lot like when he had received his wand for the first time) and he felt as though were weightless for a moment. This feeling lasted for about a second and then he was wrenched backwards.

He was regressing as he hurtled through what seemed like a long black tunnel; all around him flashes of memories were playing like small movies until he reached his destination. He had thought for a moment that he was to return to being a baby with his adult awareness and this made him feel sick. To watch his mother die again was not something he wanted and he certainly did not want to be aware of it and be unable to do nothing.

He stopped in front of the memory of the morning his Aunt Petunia had found him on her doorstep and was catapulted forward into the sleeping baby Harry just in time to hear her bat like screech.

'_Oh fantastic' _he mused _'I am a baby with the mind of a bloody seventeen year old!'_

He knew that fate wouldn't let him off so easily.

And so he had relived his ten or so years with his 'family'.

The bonus of having his adult mind was that he was at least spared the confusion of his child self. Oh yes he knew exactly why the Dursley's hated him so. So he had made sure that his grades were average, he never asked questions and got really good at avoiding his cousin and his gang.

A thought did occur to him during the beating he received when he had accidentally gotten better grades that Dudley in Maths, he could use his knowledge of wandless and wordless magic to perform spells that scared them off enough to leave him alone and keep it within the possibilities of 'accidental magic'.

He had tried this but unfortunately his plan backfired. His Uncle had beaten him worse than he could ever remember after he managed to shatter a glass at the dinner table which had caused shards to be embedded in Dudley's and Petunia's arm. He didn't want it to explode so violently and through the beating (which he had learned to detach his mind from thanks to Occlumency) he had pondered this.

Clearly there was a disturbance in his magical core, he knew he had the control and that's all children lacked when it came to magic so why had that happened? He added this to his mental list of things to read up on when he entered Hogwarts.

After the fiasco he had returned to being House-Elf Harry and thought it best to just keep his head down until his eleventh birthday.

The worst test of his resolve came in the form of his first letter inviting him to Hogwarts. Previously he had foolishly tried to open this in front of his family which led to the mental deterioration of his Uncle and few extra beatings to boot until Hagrid had rescued him.

Now he had the opportunity to stow it away and prevent the mayhem but he knew deep down that if he did he would probably have no way of getting to Diagon Alley let alone Hogwarts and so he went through the motions, watching with a sort of detached humour as the events replayed themselves.

'_Damn you Dumbledore for sticking me with these idiots! You know what Petunia's like and not once did you send anybody to check on me… unless you count the crazy cat lady. I wonder how many times she reported the abuse to you and you did nothing for the greater good.' _He seethed, he knew exactly why he had been placed here it was to humble him.

He would grow up the malnourished and mentally scarred hero that would idolise Dumbledore for 'saving' him from the Dursley's. "Not this time." He sneered through gritted teeth. These thoughts and more were running through his mind during the car-ride that would eventually lead to the shack out at sea.

"Mummy, Harry's talking to himself and he's got that look again!" Dudley whined in fear at the dark expression on his cousin's face.

"Harry stop thinking!" Petunia reprimanded half-heartedly, more concerned about her husband's mental state.

It would not be long now until he travelled to Hogwarts for the 'first' time and he had an important decision to make… Slytherin or Gryffindor?

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><p>Oooh which house to choose? Not sure myself yet :-p<p>

Please kindly leave a review if you have any input (whether it be about the story, my writing skills or anything really ^^)

Thanks for reading

Tatyltayle


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